Shoe last



Jan. 15, 1935. w LOEWER 1,987,745.

SHOE LAST Filed Dec. 22, 1933 Invenior Maid"? LOfiWC);

AEEor-ney Patented Jan. 15, 1935 h ve g -1 SHE LAST- h William Loewer, Rochester, Y. Applicaticn Diicember -fm, ssaserial No. 7035624 ilol'ai ih.[traf ic-142) This invention relates to shoe lasts.

A'"' sho'e manufacturer makes certain styles of shoes and it is his custom to order shoe lasts in accordance with his make of shoes and he places his orders for lasts with last manufacturers according to sizes. Owing to peculiarities of the human foot there are times when these lasts need building up to meet requirements of certain customers. For

instance, a customer orders a pair of shoes and sometimes the original lasts will meet all requirements to provide for a properly fitting shoe but there are times when the original lasts have to be built up at places to meet certain peculiarities in the customers foot. There are times when shoe dealers receive complaints from customers as to shoes not fitting properly and these complaints are transferred to the manufacturer who obviously seeks to remedy defects, if any, to satisfy the dealers.

It is therefore the main object of the present invention to provide a method of rebuilding shoe lasts to provide a properly fitting shoe to satisfy dealers and which, under the present method, may

be done in a way to obviate loss incident to throwing the last away or the making or purchase of a new last.

Another object of the invention resides in the provision of a method for rebuilding lasts, when necessary, by way of a method affording economy,

obviating the old tacked leather method, and permitting a quick and ready permanent application of a rebuilding element of suitable fibrous material to any part of the last.

In the drawing:

Fig. 1 is a perspective view of a wood last of break-joint type for the purpose of giving a clear understanding of the application of one or more building up elements.

Fig. 2 is a plan view of one of the building up elements, prior to application to the last.

Fig. 3 is a view of another building up element prior to application to the last.

ing up element; and

Fig. 5 is a sectional view on the line 5-5 of Fig. 4.

Referring now more particularly to the accompanying drawing, there is illustrated a shoe last composed of a rear or heel section 1 and a front or toe section 2 which are hingedly connected together in any Well known manner and which characteristics of last form no part of my invention and are common and need not be illustrated Fig. 4 is a plan view of another form of build-' for purp'ose's'of the present invention further than to indicate the joint 3 between the sections.

The present invention consists in the building up of wood shoe lasts by the application thereto of thin, flexible, slightly elastic material, such for instance, as what is known in the trade as Celastic material. This material is of a fibrous nature and pliable and elastic. The shoe last is first scraped at the place to be built up so as to remove the usual hard gloss finish or polish and expose the natural wood of which the last is composed and to thereby facilitate an effective binding connection between the last and the building up element.

The material is cut to the proper shape by means of suitable dies or otherwise and skived at the edges so as to provide for an effectivemerging of the edges of the building up element with the surrounding surface of the last.

As shown in the accompanying drawing, there are two building up elements 4 and 5 arranged, in this instance, for purposes of illustration, along the side and bottom of the last at the joint 3, the two building up elements meeting at the joint 3 and separated thereat so as not to interfere with breaking the joint 3 of the last.

After these building up elements 4 and 5 have been cut out and skived the skived edgesbeing indicated at 4 and 5, respectively, they are introduced into an acetone or volatile liquid to soften the same. A cement of suitable character, such as celluloid cement, is applied to the worn portions of the last or to the building up element or to both the last and said element, as may be desired, the last having been previously scraped at the proper place, as before stated, and the softened building up pieces or elements 4 and 5 while in softened condition, are applied by pressure to the last and worked preferably by hand pressure into intimate adhering relation with the last.

As the result of practicing the invention, I have found that by thus treating the thin material and working it by hand onto the last that I am enabled to build up lasts effectively and to the benefit and savings to manufacturers and others and that the lasts are readily built up and by virtue of the proper degree of emergence of the patches or building up elements into the surrounding surface or area the proper degree of building up is effected at the proper place without over building the surrounding surface or area of the last and without providing an unsightly built up last.

I have found by experience that a building up element treated and applied in the manner herein described results in lengthening the life of a last considerably and that the built up portions remain stable and do not become detached and that no rough places are given to the last incident to the application of the building up elements applied in accordance with my invention regardless of where the building up elements may be applied to the last.

It will be understood that the building element may be composed of material other than what the trade knows as Celastic material and that other materials of fibrous nature whether flexible elastic or not may be used for building up of shoe lasts or similar articles in accordance with the present invention. It will also be understood that all of the edges of the building element 6, illustrated in Figs. 4 and 5, may be skived, as shown at 6' or that under certain conditions one edge only or a portion of the edge of the building element need be skived, depending upon the place of building up the last or other article.

What is claimed is:-

The method of building up shoe lasts composed of front and rear sections having a hinge joint connecting the sections which method consists in preparing adjacent surfaces on the last sections extending in advance and in rear of the joint of the last, forming of soluble fibrous material, a building element of the required form to fit and cover the prepared surfaces, skiving the marginal edges of the building element to merge the surface thereof into the surrounding surfaces of the last, dividing the building element along the joint of the last by a straight out through the building element forming square edges flush with the adjacent ends of the last sections, softening the completely formed building element by a solvent without the application of heat before the building element is applied to the shoe last and securing the building element to the prepared surfaces of the shoe last by an adhesive. 20

WILLIAM LOEWER. 

